Musouka
by JulietVargas
Summary: The old Hathoway house has just been bought by a group of teenage boys. And now, combined with the earlier appearance of a strange wolf pack, the little town of Lanktin, and its residents, are in for a few surprises.
1. Chapter 1

"Why are they here?"

"Maybe someone should go out with guns and shoot at them to scare them away?"

"What if that just angers them and they attack?"

"They haven't done anything to the town yet. Maybe we should just let them be."

"They are such graceful and beautiful creatures."

_They don't even know the half of it._ Ludwig thought to himself as he took a drink of hot apple cider. The local café was generally quiet this early in the morning which was why he would stop on his way to school and enjoy the sweet cinnamon flavor with an English muffin. The drink was one of the few sweet things that he allowed himself to indulge in, while his brother seemed to eat sweets religiously...especially chocolate.

What Ludwig did get most caught up in apart from school work and football training, was watching the wolves that passed through the woods behind his house. Normally the packs would only be there for a brief amount of time, a week at most, before he assumed that they had moved on farther into the mountains and away from the towns. But this most recent pack was different, they had been around for nearly two weeks now and the town was taking notice. There were eight members total and they liked to romp and play through the trees like his dogs. In fact, they sometimes played _with _his dogs in the trees. He had found that really odd at first but he just assumed his German Sheppard and Siberian Husky felt they were wolf enough to fit in with the pack. What he couldn't understand was that the wolves accepted them. And even more bizarre was that his Golden Retriever didn't growl and bark at them like the hunting dog she was supposed to be, and the wolves likewise didn't seem bothered by her. Especially not the one strange Italian Wolf with the funny single hair that stuck out from behind his ear.

That was another unusual thing about the pack. Instead of most normal packs which consisted entirely of wolves of the same species...ie Timber most often...this pack was made up of seven different species of wolves...two of which were supposed to be extinct. There was the 'as far as he could tell' Alpha English Wolf...which was supposed to have died out hundreds of years ago...with his light nearly bleach blond coat and his flashing green eyes. His Beta, and other extinct species, a dark eyed and dark coated Japanese Wolf. And the other clearly Omegas. A bright green eyed show off Polish Wolf. A Canadian Timber Wolf with such fine light hairs that he almost looked translucent. Another rather light Finnish Wolf that appeared to have lavender eyes. A Chinese Tibetan Wolf with a rather bizarre amount of long hair that hung down from the back of its head, in what could only be described as an untied ponytail. And finally the two Italian Wolves, one with angry grass green eyes and the other with dancing auburn brown that matched his fur perfectly.

And going through the list brought up the third strange thing about the pack. It was completely devoid of females. Every single member of the pack was male and never in their time romping around behind his home had they ever been joined by a female. It wasn't like they didn't like females. After all, the one Italian seemed constantly to 'flirt' with his Golden Retriever, Lili. He would bark and leap around her with his tail wagging and occasionally risk a quick lick on her face before Ludwig's over protective and, rather bad tempered, German Sheppard, Vash, would come and snap warningly at the wolf.

Those three things made the pack unlike any he had ever seen pass through before, and there had been plenty of others in the years he had lived in this small town. The wolves were the one thing that he could count on. The one constant in a little town that was growing larger and becoming more interested in behaving like the other nearby cities.

That was a ridiculous notion of course. The cities over the mountains were frighteningly larger and bustling with too much activity for his taste. He preferred the common peace and tranquility of the foothill air. The whisper of the breezes through the pines and firs. The playful laughing of the stream that ran through the trees behind his house. And the wolves.

With a smile, Ludwig rose from his chair, dropping a few coins onto the table and headed out into the morning sunlight.

*~Mousoka~*

"Did you hear that the old Hathoway Manor got bought?"

"No kidding? How awesome! I wonder if the owner will be cool and let me take a look inside."

"Isn't it haunted?"

"Well ye...yeah, but the hero can handle anything!"

"Says the one that freaked out playing that new horror game last night."

"Ah come on Gil I wasn't scared."

"Kesesese~ you screamed like a little girl...ow!"

Ludwig looked over to see his older brother Gilbert rubbing his head where Alfred F. Jones had just cuffed him in annoyance.

"I do not scream like a girl." The tall, dirty blond huffed.

Gil grinned and shook his head.

"All right deny it all you want but anyways back to the Hathoway house. If it is haunted, you guys wanna make bets on how long it takes the new owner to leave? Betcha he's a rich old geezer that came for peace and quiet and he won't last a week."

"He's young." Francis interjected with a smile on his face and faraway eyes, "Looked to be our age maybe younger even. How he could be buying a house in that case though...but anyways. Quite a cutie too. Got light sandy blond hair and bright green eyes. He's also a Brit."

The others gaped at Francis in astonishment.

"You been stalking him or something Francis?"

"Nah I just happened to be passing by the house the other day when he and the real estate agent from Crepes were going at it. Yelling about the price I mean." Francis winked, "They weren't actually going at _it_. That most certainly would have been a sight to see."

Antonio laughed.

"Franics is that all you think about."

The shiny blond smiled and looked down at his hands.

"Oh no mon ami. I think about many other things more often."

Ludwig had a sad suspicion that he knew what Francis was referring to by _other things_. It had hit the overly romantic minded Frenchman hard when his flamboyant and breathtaking mother had run away with a high up businessman that had been staying with an elderly relative in the town for a month. Both the older teen and his father had been completely shocked and heart broken. It took several weeks but Mr. Bonnefoy seemed to be recovering. Francis on the other hand...well Ludwig just wanted to leave it at scarred...deeply.

And now that he considered it in a new light...perhaps that was the thing that scared the town most about the wolves. They were new, strange, and unlike other strangers that came and went, longer lasting. And while the mayor and council of the town felt that change was good and would bring progress...the majority of the residents...were very wary of it. And could they be blamed? Francis's case was not the first, nor the most damaging, incident that had struck the town via a strange presence.

_But the wolves_

His mind slipped away from the bustling classroom and the chattering of his older brother's _trio_ and Alfred, into the woods behind his house...where a pair of large hypnotic auburn brown irises gazed out of a gap in the trees. Breathtaking...stunning...and somehow...though he had no idea why...he had this odd sensation that prickled through his body and seemed to hint...those eyes had the power...to flip his world off its hinges and change his life...forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Football practice ended earlier than usual so Ludwig found himself walking home in the fading sunlight for a change. He wrapped the scarf he had received from his ex girlfriend, as a peace parting gift, tighter about his neck to block out the chill from beginning winter breezes. He breathed out a sigh and watched the white mist flit gracefully away. He rather liked the winter season and unlike other people he enjoyed staying out in it as much as he could. On the weekends he would pick out a book and traipse a little ways behind his house to settle down before his favorite tree. Lately though, he had been wary of doing this because of the wolves. He was by no means scared of them...rather...he didn't want to frighten them by coming so close.

He kicked a stone along the path and sighed again looking up towards the hill. He stopped in surprise when he saw two people standing in front of the Hathoway house. From his distance he couldn't see them clearly especially because the sun was setting behind the houses. However, he could tell that they were both the same size...that is to say...they were both rather small...and no it was not just his eyes playing tricks on him from being so far away...they were genuinely rather small. Children or young teenagers perhaps?

He shrugged and pulled at the scarf again as he continued on. Many people in the town were curious about the abandoned Victorian manor and often times kids dared each other to enter it since what his brother and his friends had been talking about today was true. Everyone knew that the place was haunted, or at least cursed. Too many accidents had happened there to be coincidence. The kids would probably chicken out soon and run off...unless...

He looked back up at the house as Antonio's words tugged at the back of his mind.

"_...the old Hathoway Manor got bought."_

Was there a possibility that the two small figures in front of the house...were its new inhabitants?

~*Mousoka*~

"This is the place then Arthur san?" Kiku Honda looked up at the vast Victorian manor with slight awe. He blinked his deep brown eyes against the slight glare of the sun reflecting off the weather vane as he tried to take in every inch of the exterior of their new home. It was by no means the largest place they had ever inhabited, but it was the largest in a great many years.

Arthur Kirkland simply stood staring with his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked back and forth. His mind was working frantically as it categorized everything that needed to be fixed or changed in their new home. There was not a single room that did not need patient attending and now that he got a good look at the outside he was adding even more to the list of required repairs. At last he snapped from his mental list making and turned to the older man beside him.

"Yes Kiku this is our new home...for however long it lasts. It needs a good amount of work so all of us will be kept busy for awhile."

"Some of the pack will not like that much." The Asian man smiled slightly.

"Well they'll just have to deal with it. They cannot refuse what I tell them after all."

"No they cannot Arthur san." Kiku nodded in respect at his alpha but he still knew that some of the more wild members of the pack would not take kindly to being put to work. Then another thought struck the beta's mind. "Arthur san?"

"Mm?"

"What about school? There is only a single high school in this town correct? Should we go to apply there soon?"

"I wasn't planning on enrolling us in school this time. We've already graduated several times. I feel like we should do the same thing the vampires in that stupid book do and make a collage of all of our diplomas and caps."

His generally composed beta actually laughed at that and nodded.

"Yes that is an idea for them indeed. And I suppose you are right. After all, between the eight of us, we have a Bachelors Degree in every subject."

Arthur nodded as well and was prepared to drop the subject.

"Still..." Kiku sighed, "Feli san said he would like to attend school here."

Arthur groaned and looked up at the sky.

"Of course...he's always the one that wants most to mix with normal humans."

Kiku smiled slightly.

"It is just his personality. He loves the pack dearly but he also greatly enjoys making friends and immersing in social society."

Arthur sighed again.

"How much will he whine if I refuse?"

Kiku shook his head.

"I do not know. You never can tell with Feliciano how he will react at a particular time. He is currently in a good mood because of that human's dogs he has been playing with. He might be willing to make a deal with you if you let him continue to go back to that patch of forest and play with them."

Arthur nodded thoughtfully.

"I will consider it. First I think we should move in and then we will discuss where our lives will head next. Go round up the pack would you Kiku?"

The beta nodded and bowed politely before he disappeared into the trees by the house.

A few moments later Arthur's sharp eyes saw the small Japanese wolf streaking its way through the forest around town.

~*Mousoka*~

The expected simple task of rounding up the pack proved to be more difficult for the beta. Because when he arrived back in the specific copse of trees that he and Arthur had left the others in, he found only Yao. The Chinese Tibetan wolf sat perfectly still in a patch of sunlight, with eyes closed, and tail wrapped nearly around the his front paws.

"_Meditating Again" _Kiku mused to himself and approached the other wolf carefully from upwind so that he wouldn't startle him into defense.

Yao's eyes opened and he slowly moved his neck from side to side before rolling out the rest of his muscles and getting up fluidly. He turned to face the beta and gave another roll of his muscles all the way to the flick of his tail before he approached.

"Well Kiku, how is the house?"

"Different from the last one." The beta replied with a whip of his tail (a wolf's version of a shrug), "It'll take some work, but it's mostly livable right now."

Yao nodded.

"I figured that would be the case. But the location is fine? It's not too close to other human homes?"

Kiku shook his head.

"It's up on a hill with the forest close to nearly all sides. The next closest homes are at the bottom of the hill."

"Good." Yao yawned, "We need to be able to come and go in both forms without fear of the neighbors seeing."

"We should still be careful though. I think all entrances but the front door are blocked from view from the bottom of the hill, but I can't be certain without seeing for myself." Kiku responded cautiously.

Yao nodded and settled down into a seated position again.

"So when do we get to see it?"

Kiku sighed.

"Actually I was instructed to come collect everyone now but..." he looked around meaningfully.

"I'm the only one here." Yao finished for him, nodding, "Yes, the other's kinda scattered shortly after you left."

The beta groaned.

"Do you know where each went?"

"Tino said something about an interesting carpentry shop in town. Matthew still has his eyes on the stuffed polar bear in that one thrift store. Felix has been desperately wanting to visit that horse and pony ranch again. You can guess where Feliciano went. And Lovino followed him.

Kiku groaned again.

"That's several different directions and Arthur's waiting for us. How can I get everyone gathered and up to the house before it gets dark?"

"I could assist you. You could go in the direction of the ranch, the human's house is out that way too, and I could go into town. We could simply order them to go up to our new home and join Arthur. That way we don't have to round them up."

"The problem is that even if we gave them directions to the house, two of them would still get lost."

Yao started barking with laughter at that.

"I forgot about that. There's a reason that we always try to stay together. Because the twins would get hopelessly lost otherwise."

He looked down at the ground.

"You know, now that I think about that there's a possibility that they never even reached the human's house."

"Oh don't say that." Kiku whined and leaned down towards the ground, covering his eyes with his paws.

"That's just what we need. Having to search around this entire area, and possibly a bit further, looking for them."

Yao barked with more laughter before he got up and made his way towards the section of forest that led to town.

"Then let's hope that the fact that we've been there so many times and he's enamored with the place will help Feliciano find his way there. And let's hope that Lovino stayed close enough behind him to follow. Good luck Kiku." Yao called over his shoulder as he raced into the trees.

*~Mousoka~*

When Ludwig arrived home he first looked for a sign that his brother had possibly come home before him, but nothing revealed that Gilbert had been at all home since this morning. Empty cereal bowl still on the counter and another breakfast plate smashed on the floor. Ludwig sighed and began picking up the larger pieces carefully. How many times had he told Gilbert to use the plastic plates so that if he left food on them and Caden, their Siberian Husky, came along...at least the dog wouldn't be breaking things when he snatched his unexpected meal.

Ludwig was just going to grab the broom from the closet when he heard a yelp and what sounded like snarling outside. He ran to the back door which was open to the extent that the dogs could come and go through it easily, and ran out onto the small back porch himself. Two of the wolves were standing in his backyard, the two that he had labeled as brothers, and the more auburn had a paw raised off the ground and was whimpering. The other wolf stood protectively in front of him with his teeth bared and what looked like a piece of Vash's fur hanging from his mouth.

"Hey!" Ludwig shouted, running out with his arms waving and standing at his full height, "Get out of here! Both of you get!"

He looked around for something to throw to scare them if they didn't leave but the one in front barked something over his shoulder and the other began moving away warily before he turned tail and limped hurriedly back into the trees. The other continued to glare at Vash and Ludwig before he too turned and disappeared into the trees.

*~Musouka~*

Dimitre Laurinaitis sighed and shook his head.

"Is something wrong uncle?" Toris asked, pulling his bike up to the top of the hill beside the man. He had heard his uncle shouting at something to go as he pedaled up the road towards the horse barn and country house.

"Wolf." His uncle sighed again, "One of those that came by not too long ago. I don't want to hurt him you know, but he might not have good intentions towards the ponies and smaller animals. We may like wildlife Toris, but our main responsibility is to our own first."

His nephew nodded and looked down the hill in the direction of the woods where the wolf must have ran.

"Which one was it? Could you tell?"

"The Polish wolf." His uncle sighed again, "He's got such strange coloring though. It makes me kinda uneasy."

"What do you mean?" Toris asked.

His uncle shook his head.

"Don't worry about. The ranch is my responsibility at present, not yours. How was school?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Honestly Feliciano, what am I going to do with you." Arthur groaned as Kiku wrapped a sturdy cloth bandage around the injured boy's wrist, "Not only did you disobey me and go off on your own when I had told you all to stay put in the clearing, but you ended up getting hurt as well. Those dogs never bothered us at all in the past, what did you do to make one attack you?"

"He licked the Golden Retriever, Lili." Lovino grumbled.

Arthur slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Why the bloody hell do you have to flirt with every female you come in contact with, regardless of species?"

Feliciano shrugged and flexed his wrist a bit to check the tightness of the bandage Kiku had just finished securing.

"She's fun. I just wanted to show her that I cared about her."

"You aren't seriously thinking about having a relationship with her are you?" Lovino growled, "That's messed up, even if we are half canine."

"No Lovi I'm not going that far." Feliciano got up and stretched, "I just figured I won't be able to see her again for awhile since we have a new home now and need to get settled and start school soon and..."

"Ah yes about that..." Arthur began but instantly caught sight of Feliciano's pleading _puppy dog eyes_.

"Arthuuurrr!" the boy whined, "Please alpha?"

Arthur sighed and turned away so he wouldn't have to stare at such a face while he stated his decision.

"For the good of..."

He felt a tug on his jacket but still didn't turn around, even as arms wrapped around his waist and Feliciano's weight fell into his back.

"Please?" he heard the barely audible whisper.

Arthur sighed and pried the hands off him.

"Fine. Anyone who wants to attend the high school here may do so. Tell me this night so that I can go enroll you tomorrow."

Feliciano gave a yip of joy and threw his arms tighter around his alpha.

"Grazie Arthur! Moto grazie!"

Arthur found himself blushing. He had had a small relationship with each of his pack members throughout the years, the longest with Yao and the shortest with Felix, but the one with Feliciano had proved the most interesting and exciting, and the hardest to give up. It still set his nerves on edge and his heart fluttering whenever the young wolf showed him even the slightest form of affection now.

Lovino caught the change in Arthur and growled warningly, glaring at the man despite him being his alpha.

Feliciano didn't notice any of it as he bounced cheerily around the kitchen and then out to explore the rest of the house with Matthew, Tino, and Felix tagging after him.

Arthur watched the doorway through which they had disappeared before he heard Lovino's quiet voice, which he used when trying to control his temper and keep down the volume so his brother wouldn't hear what he had to say.

"You're the one that ended it."

"I know. It was best for him to not get close enough anymore to find out about me."

"If you know that then stop longing for him." Lovino growled menacingly, "If you make him cry again for any reason other than that's the way he is..."

"I have no intention of that Lovino. I made a promise to both you and myself. I will get over this, it will just take time. Probably another few relationships as well."

"That might be hard to come by in this town." Yao interjected, "Besides, it's been awhile since you've had a relationship with a human and that didn't end well."

"I don't want to be reminded of these things right now, I have to go to the high school tomorrow and enroll Feliciano and possibly some of the others."

"I would like to attend." Kiku nodded and looked at Yao, "You?"

Yao shook his head and yawned.

"I'm tired of high school. I think I'll go see what jobs are available in town tomorrow. Try and put one of my degrees to use."

"Well I'm attending. I can't leave my brother alone in an environment like that for even a second." Lovino settled into another chair at the table.

"Who of the others do you think will want to as well?" Arthur asked Kiku, writing down his pack members' names and putting a check next to the ones who would be attending.

"Tino might, most likely Felix, Matthew I'm not sure about." Kiku replied, "And what about yourself?"

Arthur shook his head.

"I'm going to see if there are any vacant shops in town and try to open a little tea café again."

"You never give up on that dream do you?" Yao laughed lightly.

"It gives me something to keep living for." Arthur replied as he walked out of the room to go find the other pack members.

*~Musouka~*

"So you are the man that bought the Hathoway house?" the principle looked over his spectacles at Arthur, "Arthur Kirkland?"

"I am." Arthur nodded.

"And these young men with you that you wish to enroll here are your younger brothers and relatives correct?" He looked dubiously at the variety of faces, features, and implied races that the young men had compared to Arthur.

"Yes, Matthew Kirkland is my younger brother. Kiku Honda Kirkland is my younger adopted brother. Lovino and Feliciano Vargas are my cousins on my late mother's side. And Tino and Felix Kirkland are my cousins on my father's side. They're not brothers."

It was the same story he told every school they enrolled in and the paperwork he had created to back it up was flawless, thanks to Yao and Kiku's expertise.

The principle nodded and laid the paperwork out on his desk, continuing to study Arthur.

"If you don't mind my asking, why are they all living with you?"

This was a question that Arthur sometimes got asked so he was used to it, so were the other pack members.

"My parents were in a car crash shortly after I graduated from high school. In their will they asked me to continue to take care of Matthew and Kiku. Our family had already been taking care of Feliciano and Lovino by request of their grandfather, so I agreed to just continue watching over them. Felix has some habits that were starting to drive his parents crazy so I agreed to take him in as well and try my best to fix them. And since Tino was feeling a little left out since all of us were living together, he begged his parents to let him move in with us as well. Before you ask, no I'm not the only one over 18 in the house. Kiku's older brother, that was adopted by a different family, recently tracked him down out of curiosity and asked politely if he could move in as well. We're both 21."

The principle blinked and scratched his head.

"Well I have no words but to commend you for your sacrifice in taking care of six teenagers when you're so young yourself. I hope that you at least go to college or are planning to?"

"I graduated with an AA from an online college. Actually my dream is to open a small tea shop. Perhaps you know of a vacancy in town?"

The principle scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes I believe there is an empty space that hasn't been used in years. Can't really recall what was in there actually. It's located on Jinko street. Just go down main and drop in on any shop owners there and ask for directions."

"I know where Jinko is." Matthew spoke up quietly, so no one but Felix, who was sitting beside him, actually heard. The principle and Arthur just went on talking about the empty shop until Felix shouted out,

"Like, Mattie says he knows where Jinko is. No need to ask for directions."

Arthur and the principle both turned in the quiet boy's direction and Arthur nodded with a smile.

"That's good. You can show me where it is after we leave here today then." He raised his eyebrow though in an unspoken question that Matthew understood perfectly. The youngest wolf nodded deeply. A silent promise to the unspoken question, but to the principles eyes just an agreement to show his elder brother to Jinko Street.

Arthur turned back to the principle then and rose extending a hand.

"Well I'll be seeing you then principle Jones."

"Indeed. Thank you Mr. Kirkland." He shook hands with Arthur before turning to his new students, "I welcome you all to the school. I hope to only see you under normal circumstances or if any of you become friends with my son Alfred. He's planning on being on the soccer team this year I believe."

Feliciano looked at his brother with a grin. Lovino smirked but Arthur gave them a warning glance as they all left the room.

"You know what I've said about competitive school sports. And before you try to beg Feliciano, remember that I already am graciously letting you attend school despite my original plans. Don't push me on this."

Feliciano pouted a bit and decided to look at their surroundings as they walked through the busy school halls. The passing bell had just rung so all the students were milling about and chatting in the 10 minute period between classes. A group of girls caught sight of the seven boys and began whispering excitedly to each other and some even batted eyelashes. A group of boys also caught sight of them and studied for awhile. The tallest one had strange silvery white hair and wore a scarf around his shoulders that blocked his mouth from view, but his eyes were smiling strangely. Felix recognized one of the boys with him. It was the young man that had been at the pony ranch when the pack had visited it the first time. His deep russet brown hair hung down to shoulder length, whereas before it had been up in a small ponytail, and he could now see that the boy had hunter green eyes. The combination made him rather handsome and Felix desperately racked his brain to remember what the man on the farm had called him. Something with a T...

"Hey Toris!" a voice behind called and Felix turned back around to see a taller blond haired boy with glasses jogging up to the group. He began talking excitedly to the other boy as Felix nodded. That's right, the boy's name was Toris. It was an interesting name...not common...he rather liked it and thought it fit the owner nicely.

"Felix, eyes on where you're going." Arthur snapped, pulling him out of the path of some students leaning against lockers and refusing to move.

Felix did as instructed but caught another quick glance over his shoulder at Toris, before the pack left through the building's front doors and back outside.

~*Musouka*~

Felix wasn't the only one that had recognized someone at the school.

Originally Tino had left the forest clearing where they were supposed to wait for Arthur because he was hungry and was going to find a small café in town where he could get a drink and pastry. But in his search he had come across a carving store. The pieces displayed out front and in the window were so amazingly breathtaking that he had gone inside in the hopes of seeing more, and hopefully complimenting the skilled creator. There had indeed been more amazing pieces of skilled craftsmanship inside the store, and he had also found _one _of the craftsmen working on a small carving behind the counter.

Tino was a little bit naturally shy but he had plucked up the courage and told the man that he liked his work. The man had looked up and Tino had been surprised that despite his large apparent size and deep set eyes behind glasses, he was actually rather young. The man had looked at him for a bit before he went back to carving, much to Tino's annoyance now. But he did hear a quiet "thank you" from behind the counter and also, "my dad did most of what you see actually. But I'll thank you for him since he's not here at the moment and I don't know if you'll come back. You look like a stranger."

All this was said without the man ever looking up again from his work and Tino felt both a bit annoyed at not being looked at when spoken to, but also rather admirative that the man seemed to be able to speak clearly while still carefully and skillfully working.

"My name's Tino, and actually I think I'm moving here soon." he replied after a few moments of silence.

The man did look up this time and caught his eyes. Tino caught his breath. The face seemed so deep and serious, almost scary, but those azure eyes held curiosity and kindness.

"Berwald." The man said after another long silence of them just staring at each other, "Berwald Oxenstierna."

That was when a tap on the window had alerted Tino to Yao's presence and he had left with a quick apology and smile at Berwald...who he had thought was in his early twenties.

But there he had been! Getting some books from a locker while apparently ignoring another, excited, tall, and rather wild haired boy who was waving his arms wildly.

Berwald Oxenstierna was a high school student!

As they walked in the direction of Jinko Street Tino began to consider the possibility that he would end up in the same class as the skilled whittler. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but at the same time he was kinda interested in finding out more about this young man who also seemed to enjoy one of his favorite hobbies. Tino had taken a few woodshop classes throughout the years and his room and other parts of the house were typically decorated in some of his creations. And that thought made him muse over the possibility of getting an afterschool job at Berwalds father's shop and therefore possibly further his learning of the carpentry and wood working craft.

As they turned the corner onto Jinko Street and Arthur was presented with the empty store that could become his dream, he looked at each of his pack members in turn, all apparently lost in thought, and hoped that this new town would prove beneficial to all of them in some way.


	4. Chapter 4

Ludwig was unable to move. His brother had excitedly told him about the group of good looking boys that had walked out of the principal's office and out the school doors during a passing period yesterday when Ludwig had been in one of the different buildings and therefore not seen them, but he hadn't much cared. His brother had mused out loud if they were going to attend the school and kept exclaiming that he had never seen such large eyebrows before. But none of it had really interested Ludwig much. His thoughts had still been on the encounter he had had with the Italian wolves the day before.

But now his brother's words held more meaning as he stared into his American History class that morning and found someone sitting in his desk. A young man with the same auburn brown hair as the more bouncy Italian wolf. He was talking quite animatedly with wildly gesturing hands to the girl that sat in front of Ludwig normally. While it wasn't really assigned seating, Ludwig did still feel a tinge of annoyance that the new student hadn't bothered to ask if the seat was usually occupied. Or more probable was that he hadn't cared. That was the type of kids that usually moved into the area for about a year before their parents couldn't stand it and ended up moving again.

"Excuse me." Ludwig cleared his throat, walking up to the talking pair and nodding at the boy, "You're in my seat."

"Oh come on Ludwig it's not assigned seating." The girl groaned and looked at him with a _butt out_ expression.

But the stranger instantly snapped his attention to Ludwig and gasped.

"It's you."

Ludwig blinked but the boy quickly stood and shook his head rubbing his hands together nervously.

"I mean...I've been told about you. But um...what's your name? Oh and sorry for stealing your seat! I asked but nobody told me!"

Ludwig blinked at the young man who's voice was a little more high pitched than most guys. And it clearly was used to laughing, chatting, and apologizing. He seemed to be a cheerful person. He was the type of person that would easily fit in with his brother's group. But as Ludwig looked him over more closely, several things began to stand out to him. Things that made him think of the mesmerizing Italian wolf. First, the young man's hair sported a curl on the left side that defied gravity. Second, his eyes were the same color as his hair just like the wolf's. And third, he had a bandage wrapped around his wrist, the same side that the wolf had limped away on two days ago. All of this had to be coincidence but it was still rather disconcerting to be confronted with such a person so soon after that encounter. Not to mention that as he caught the boy's eyes and held them for a bit, he got the same sensation that the wolves eyes staring out of the trees had given him. The sensation that his world was about to flipped upside down and he might actually like it.

"Um excuse me..." the girl snapped suddenly, "Weren't you talking to me Feliciano?"

The strange young man snapped his attention from Ludwig and turned back the girl with a cheerful apologetic smile.

"I was but I need to move seats first. Is the one next to yours taken, um...sorry but you just kinda looked at me without telling me your name. Mine is Feliciano Vargas by the way. I'm new here. My cousin just bought the Victorian on the hill." He turned back to Ludwig with an apologetic smile and shrug.

"No way!" the girl exclaimed, "You're living in the haunted Hathoway House?!"

"Is that its name?" Feliciano grinned, "I wondered if it had a name. Most old manors like that one usually do."

"Did you not hear me?" the girl asked in slight annoyance, "I said _haunted_."

Feliciano smiled, "It's not haunted."

"How can you be so sure? You've only been living there for like three days right? The spirits are probably just waiting for you to get comfortable and start to feel safe and then they'll strike!"

"Trust me. I would know if it was haunted. And if it was my family would still be fine." Feliciano didn't lose his smile.

Ludwig blinked at him in confusion and curiosity but the girl still looked skeptical and folded her arms.

"Well I don't care how hot you are, I'm not stepping a foot in that manor." She muttered under her breath as she got up and went over to the doorway where some more girls had just entered.

Ludwig wondered if Feliciano had heard her but the young man was still just smiling and looking at him.

"I'm still waiting for a name and your answer." he said cheerfully.

Ludwig blinked and blushed slightly at being so rude.

"It's Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt. And no that seat is always empty."

"Great then!" Feliciano grinned and moved one seat over, "I'll sit next to you Ludwig."

Ludwig just blinked for a bit before he nodded and sat down. Feliciano had been completely sure when he had said that the Hathoway Manor wasn't haunted. And even more sure when he had said that his family would still have been able to handle it if it had been. It sparked Ludwig's curiosity and made him want to ask more questions and actually get to know the hyper new boy.

"So Feliciano, you said that your cousin bought the manor. How old is he, and who all is living with you."

"Arthur is 21 and there are eight of us."

Ludwig's brain ignored how young the owner of the house was and immediately began snapping connections. Eight new people in the Hathoway Manor, right on the heels of a pack of eight wolves showing up around the town. More coincidences his logical side reasoned. Crazy coincidences!

Feliciano was just smiling at him, probably waiting for his response and maybe more questions.

"Um...so besides your oldest cousin, are you all teenagers and attending this school?"

"No Yao is 21 as well, but he's related to Kiku only."

Ludwig's brain went double time in complete confusion. So was it like a fraternity in the house where not everyone is related to each other. He had assumed that it was probably all members of Arthur's family but now he wasn't so sure.

Feliciano laughed and patted his shoulder.

"Sorry, I know it's probably a bit confusing but I don't want to go into all the family dynamics right now. I'll just tell you everyone's names. There's me and my twin brother Lovino, Arthur, Kiku, Yao, Matthew, Felix, and Tino."

Why did Feliciano keep saying things that were too uncannily close to the wolf pack?! This time it was the information that he had a twin brother, just like the two brother Italian wolves! Ludwig was getting a headache from listening to Feliciano and he was grateful when class finally started up and his mind could be occupied with history.

~*Musouka*~

Ludwig wasn't the only one that experienced some shocks that day. Berwald walked into wood working a little later than usual that day because he was making up a test for another class during lunch and ended up having to stay longer to finish it. He was surprised to find Tino, the boy that had visited the carving shop, at his usual work station talking to Lukas and being talked at by Mathias.

"Hey Bernie!" Mathias called out, "You're late buddy!"

Berwald hating that nickname almost as much as Lukas hated the annoying wild haired boy calling him Luka. He ignored Mathias and walked over to the teacher with his pass to make sure he was marked as there instead absent or tardy. But as he walked back over towards the bench he found it hard to keep his eyes off of Tino. The young man had turned in his direction and was also looking at him with surprise but also an uncertain smile on his face.

"Um hi again." Tino said a bit quietly as Berwald approached the table.

Berwald continued to just stare at him which seemed to make Tino fidget a bit under his gaze. He nodded and managed an "mm" at the boy before sitting across from him beside Lukas.

"Whoa you two know each other already?!" Mathias exclaimed, looking between the two, "When and how did that happen?!"

Tino waited for Berwald to explain but when the man just continued to stare at him and not say anything he finally broke down and replied.

"I visited his father's carving shop a few days ago and we talked a bit since he was working behind the counter."

"Whoa you actually got Berwald to talk to you?!" Mathias grinned, "That's a feet!"

"Just because he doesn't want to talk to you doesn't mean that he won't talk to normal people Mathias." Lukas spoke up calmly before going back to whittling.

"Oh come on Luka don't be like that." Mathias grinned and then yelped as the knife came down just inches from his fingers.

"Don't call me Luka." Lukas still spoke calmly with hardly any expression on his face but he uncurled his fingers from the knife and just left it in the table, probably as a warning for the future.

"Hey are you boys getting up to trouble again?" the teacher called warningly from the other side of the room.

"No sir." Lukas called out and picked up a different knife to continue whittling.

And that was pretty much how the rest of the period went, and Berwald just went about his work but kept looking at Tino across the table...and never said a word.

And in his Advanced Biology class, Toris had been surprised to find the young blond man that he had seen walking through the halls with the large group the day before. The boy was wearing a slightly large white sweater and colored scarf and appeared to be sucking on a lollipop. A matching colored hat was sitting on top of the desk. What's more, he was in the seat right in front of Toris's, where Ivan usually sat. That was a problem. He had to warn the boy before his a bit disconcerting, and very misunderstood, friend arrived.

"Um hey, you're new here right?" Toris sat down behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

The boy turned around and fixed Toris with his bright green eyes removing the candy from his mouth with a loud smack.

"Yep, like names Felix. You're Toris right? I saw you in the halls yesterday and heard that kid with glasses call your name."

Toris blinked at the casual uncaring attitude the boy seemed to have.

"Yeah I am. Hey listen, you're in Ivan's seat. And if I were you...I would move immediately. You don't want to mess with Ivan."

"Like who's that?" Felix licked the candy.

"Well, you remember the tall guy with the scarf that I was standing with yesterday?"

"Yep."

"That's Ivan."

"Oh...why's he got white hair?"

Toris blinked at him in surprised confusion.

"I honestly don't know. It's not pure white but then again..."

"I've got a cousin with very light blond hair that it almost seems white. His name's Tino. Hey you work at the Pony Ranch right? Could I come hang out and see them or ride sometime?"

Toris blinked yet again and tried to process all of the information and questions. One thing was completely confusing.

"How did you know about the Pony Ranch?"

"Oh someone in one of my previous classes was talking about you and the ranch." Felix waved his hand dismissively.

Toris's face heated up at the hope that it was a particular girl who had mentioned it. Ivan's younger sister Natalia was a new Freshman but since Toris and Ivan had been friends since the beginning of high school, he had actually been around her a lot before now and had developed his crush about a year ago. If Natalia was talking to other people about him then that was a good sign right?

"Hey, are you like spacing out? You didn't answer my other question yet."

"Huh?" Toris shook his head to try and clear it from thoughts of Natalia, "Oh about coming to the ranch? We do have mostly ponies but there are two horses that you could ride. You have experience?"

"Yep." Felix grinned, "I love ponies better but you can't ride them after a certain size so I learned how to horseback ride when that happened."

Toris was about to ask more when a soft voice spoke up from beside them.

"Excuse me, you are in my seat da?"

Toris stopped dead and looked over at Ivan. Crap! He had been so preoccupied with just talking to Felix that he hadn't realized that the new boy had yet to vacate the seat. He waited for Ivan's foreboding aura to make Felix start trembling and move immediately, and probably never talk to him again just from association with the frightening boy, but the blond just stared at Ivan with the lollipop back in his mouth and unperturbed green eyes.

"Can't you just sit somewhere else? I'm like enjoying talking to Toris."

Toris caught his breath and didn't dare to look at Ivan. Oh god he just wanted to become invisible at that moment. If Ivan thought that he was part of this than the creepy aura was going to be turned up ten fold when he next talked to Toris alone. He wouldn't do anything violent but the phrase "if looks could kill" was not a false statement in the least!

Ivan kept staring at Felix but his smile had stretched wider and he closed his eyes.

"I could. But you see, Toris is a friend of mine so I enjoy talking with him as well."

And with that statement Toris was completely pulled into the middle of this confrontation. And he had absolutely nothing to do with it and no control over either of them.

"Then like kick someone else out of one of the seats on either side of Toris." Felix waved an uncaring hand and turned back to Toris, "So how many ponies does the ranch have? Does your family own it? That's like totally cool!"

Toris knew that Ivan was not used to being brushed off so easily like that and he dared to dart his eyes over to see the tall teen's eyes twitch in slight annoyance even as his smile remained exactly the same. This was most certainly not good. Felix had no idea what he had just started, and worse it looked like Toris was going to continue to be stuck in the middle. He should just refuse the _crazy _boy's askings to come to the ranch and maybe that would make him get annoyed and leave him alone after that. He had this nagging doubt in the back of his mind that that wouldn't be the case though so he finally forced himself to answer the new comer.

"Yeah my family owns the ranch. Just let me know when you want to come over and we can head there together after school sometime. Or I guess a weekend would be fine too."

"Sweet." Felix grinned, "Tomorrow then. We own Hathoway Manor so like meet me in front of there at noon and we'll head back to your place."

The teacher entered at that point and Ivan took the seat beside Toris, making Antonio have to move to a different seat without even making a scene. Toris barely had time to register what Felix had said before the teacher began that day's lesson but when he did his mind was in a panic.

_Wait, what?! Tomorrow?! Hathoway Manor?! The heck is up with this guy?!_


	5. Chapter 5

Ludwig's house was trashed! He had arrived home from practice expecting to just find the dogs and another smashed plate possibly on the floor. Instead he found three sets of dirty shoes inside the front door, three backpacks tossed carelessly at random intervals down the small entryway hall, and raucous laughter coming from the back rooms. What really made the place trashed though was the kitchen. Not only was another plate broken on the floor and not cleaned up by his brother, who was clearly home with friends, the countertops were strewn with ingredients, some spilled, and what appeared to be a few too burn and therefore unacceptable to eat cookies of different varieties. It was like he was living with children!

"Bruder!" he shouted down the hallway, "Holen Sie sich jetzt hier!"

"Ah welcome home Lutz." Gilbert's head popped out of his bedroom door, "Hey you should join us, we're playing video games and talking about the new boys at school."

"Nein!" Ludwig snapped, "And you have to put that on hold to come clean this mess up. I will not do it all by myself this time!"

Gilbert sighed and grumbled.

"Not awesome Lutz. You know I'm with the guys."

"¡Hola Ludwig!" Antonio's voice called from out of the room.

"Always a pleasure to see you mon ami." Francis's voice echoed.

"Yeah hi." Ludwig sighed and turned his attention back to the kitchen. It was their responsibility since they had made the mess, but from the sounds of it if he waited for them to break down and clean it, then it could remain in that state for a good amount of the night. He sighed and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

One thing that would be a slight relief was looking out the window. He had made sure that all three dogs were inside before he shut the door, so that there shouldn't be a repeat of the other day with the wolves. Because despite what had happened, he was still hopeful to see them again. Yesterday he had been disappointed, but he hoped that today would be different.

While he cleaned he kept glancing out his window, just hoping for a glimpse of those amazing auburn brown irises, but so far this night had been empty like the last.

"Are they out there?" Antonio's voice startled him a bit from his intense staring as his brother's friend came over to wet a rag and clean a section of the counter he had just cleared.

"No the dogs are all inside. I don't ever let them roam freely at night." Ludwig responded with a smile. Antonio was usually always the first to decide it was a good idea to help the younger boy in cleaning up their mess.

"I know that." Antonio laughed, "I was actually asking about the wolves. Gilbert told us that they like hanging around the back of your place. I was curious if they're out there right now."

Ludwig turned to him in confusion.

"You mean you haven't seen them before yourself? At your house?"

"Only once briefly. They just kinda stopped and looked at the house one day and then moved on and haven't been back since. They were kinda unusual though. The three I got a look at were different species. Kinda unusual. But the one that first looked was quite beautiful, dark auburn brown fur and bright green eyes, and a strange curl of fur that seemed to sweep out of its forehead. Most unusual."

Ludwig nodded.

"Yes I've seen him. There are eight total."

Antonio smiled and looked out the window briefly.

"You've been watching them for awhile then Ludwig. I guess you really do prefer the company of canines more than people."

Ludwig shrugged and went back to cleaning.

"No luck again Ludwig?" Gilbert grinned as he and Francis joined them in the kitchen, "Maybe they've moved on at last. Forget about them for a minute and let's talk about the new boys at school. I think we each had a class with at least one of them so we can form pretty good opinions."

Ludwig sighed.

"You can't judge people on a single day Bruder. They're probably still a little uncomfortable with the move and therefore won't really be acting like themselves."

"The ones I saw seemed pretty adjusted already to me." Gilbert chuckled, "Apart from the one in creative writing of course."

"There was one in creative writing?" Antonio blinked.

"Yeah, name of Matthew I think the teacher called." Gilbert grinned, "Quite attractive too. Very light blond hair, almost silvery and a good length with a strange looping curl, and glasses covering over interesting violet/blue eyes. But he seemed kinda reserved and really quiet. Didn't speak a word. I don't think he's the same as Lukas and Emil in that regard though."

"Well Toni and I had a very intelligent new boy in our Senior English Class." Francis said as he began to clean off the countertop on the other side of Ludwig, "Rather small with Asian features and he spoke quite calmly, didn't like people trying to get too close to him though. Nearly flew back in his seat when a girl leaned over his desk unexpectedly to talk to him." Francis laughed, "Quite hilarious to see."

"There were three that I encountered" Antonio nodded, "One is in two of my classes, home ech and advanced art. His twin brother was also in art and then a kinda strange blond was in advanced bio."

Ludwig blinked.

"So you've met Feliciano as well then?"

Antonio grinned.

"He was a breath of fresh air, but Lovino is quite interesting as well. He acts a little more open when Feli is around."

"Awesome." Gilbert grinned, "I want to meet those two sometime. Hey since you guys know them why don't you invite them to have lunch with us on Monday?"

"I'm sure Feli would love to. Can't say the same for Lovi though." Antonio laughed.

"Well that's five we've named off so far." Francis smiled, "Any more?"

"Yes." Ludwig nodded, "Tino Kirkland. He was in my English class along with both Feliciano and Lovino."

Antonio was right, Feliciano's twin was very different from his brother, if not in appearance then in personality and his way of talking. For some reason he seemed to have already formed a hatred towards Ludwig and the young man couldn't figure out why.

"Also..." Ludwig decided to inform them, "Feliciano told me that there are two more outside of school. Arthur and Yao. They're both 21."

Gilbert whistled.

"So that makes eight total and I'm sure they're all attractive in their own ways. Sounds like they're mostly all related too since Matthew's last name is Kirkland as well."

"As is Kiku's." Francis nodded and then frowned, "That's an interesting coincidence isn't it?"

"What?" Gilbert asked, shoving another cookie into his mouth.

"Well, eight new people show up in town shortly after a pack of eight wolves starts hanging around. That's quite a strange coincidence don't you think?"

Since Ludwig had already thought over this many times it wasn't a new idea but he was surprised to find that Gilbert and Antonio had both stopped dead and were staring at Francis with shocked and concerned looks. After a few moments Gilbert breathed.

"Meeting...now...my room." He waited for his two friends to follow his orders before he turned back to Ludwig with a hasty and nervous grin, "Sorry Lutz looks like you have to finish the kitchen by yourself after all." And then he was racing back to his room and slamming the door.

Ludwig stood stunned and horribly confused as to what had just happened. What had made the three boys so edgy? Was it the coincidence? Had their talk of ghosts made them believe that all supernatural beings were real? Vampires, wizards, mermaids...werewolves...?

_Werewolves with beautiful auburn brown eyes?_

~*Musouka*~

Gilbert made certain that he could hear his brother still moving about in the kitchen before he addressed his two friends.

"Did you guys sense anything from them today?"

"Considering we've never had dealings with werewolves before I wouldn't even know what to be trying to sense." Francis frowned, "Do you have any idea Toni? You're the pureblood vampire here after all."

Antonio thought for a few moments before he shook his head.

"Apart from this slightly shocked and seemingly familiar feeling when I saw Lovino, I didn't sense anything like the werewolves I've met in the past. So either they aren't and it is just coincidence, or else someone in their pack has incredibly shading power that can completely block their supernatural presence from detection."

"Could it be Matthew and that's why we completely missed his even being in creative writing?"

"If they are werewolves then that would make sense." Gilbert grinned, "Which makes me more awesome than you two because I actually noticed him. Maybe it doesn't work on me. What should I experience if I came across a werewolf Toni?"

"You should have immediately sensed that something wasn't right when you walked through the door. There should have been this feeling of rather hostile animosity."

"No smell of wet dog?" Francis joked.

Antonio shook his head.

"This isn't like in books."

"Well Ivan was in the room you know. How exactly was I supposed to sense any unusual feeling of animosity when the usual one was present?" Gilbert chuckled.

"He makes a point mon ami." Francis nodded at Antonio, "Perhaps we should try and get one of them alone without Ivan there and see if Gilbert senses something then? What do you think?"

But Antonio was too lost in thought. While it was true that as a newly turned vampire, Gilbert might be able to break past other magical protections more easily than him and the half blood Francis, he didn't think that would be enough in this case. Gilbert was just naturally observant and his own mind had been on Lovino still so that was probably why he hadn't noticed Matthew in the room. He had a feeling that if Matthew or one of the others was cloaking their packs supernatural presence, then they were going to have to find out the truth some other way. And despite their supposed feud with each other, Antonio was deeply excited and hopeful that they were indeed werewolves, because then he would feel far less guilty about trying to pursue Lovino...a boy he felt deeply drawn towards...a boy with the same strange curl and beautiful green eyes as the wolf that had met his eyes days ago and sent a shiver up his spine.


	6. Chapter 6

The knock on the door caused a great deal of activity in the Hathoway Manor. Lovino and Feliciano woke up in the top floor corridor to find they had dozed off on their paint brushes and now had large cream splotches on their faces. Lovino's shouts of outrage startled Kiku who accidentally missed the nail in the roof board he was trying to put back into place and hit Yao's finger instead, causing the older man to howl in pain. The howl shocked Matthew and the whisk fell out of his hands onto the floor and in his attempt to chase after it he hit the stool Arthur was perched on, trying to organize the glasses and mugs in the cupboard, and caused him to tumble with a mug in one hand. Tino also heard the knock and howl from inside the house and decided it was safer to stay hidden in the trees, as he was currently in his fur, not skin. The only member unaffected was Feliks who was currently up in the bathroom he shared with the twins, blow-drying his newly washed hair and admiring the outfit he had picked out for the day's events, hanging on the back of the door.

Arthur groaned and got up, careful not to lean on any of the pieces of broken mug that now lay scattered on the floor beside him.

"Sorry Arthur!" Matthew said breathlessly coming over to help him, "I was too focused on the whisk and not on my surroundings.

"Bloody hell!" Arthur groaned again as he allowed his youngest omega to help him up, "Who in their right mind would be knocking at the front door to our haunted house so soon?!"

Matthew laughed lightly.

"Someone who's not superstitious? Or maybe one of the others invited over a new friend they met at school."

"Well if that's the case then they're gonna get hell." Arthur folded his arms and stared down at the shattered pieces on the floor.

"Can't you go a bit easy on him Arthur? We're all trying to adjust here and friends are important to many members."

"Oh it's not from me that they're gonna get it." Arthur shook his head with a grimace, "That was Lovino's favorite mug."

Matthew shuddered and made a sign that was the werewolve's equivalent to crossing themselves.

"Have mercy on our poor brother's soul."

And the knocking came again.

~*Musouka*~

Toris sighed and stepped back from the old red pine door, shivering slightly. He had never wanted to get any closer to this house, but he had no choice thanks to Feliks. Unfortunately he couldn't call and arrange a different meeting place to avoid the house, because the strange blond boy had left from class yesterday without giving Toris a number or e-mail he could contact him by. He had been just so nonchalant with everything regarding their meeting and what he expected from Toris. He should have just ignored the boy's request and not given him any explanation on Monday when he saw him in class. That would have been the end of it. And he wouldn't currently be standing on the steps of the house that he knew was not right.

Except now he thought about it...something about the house didn't feel the same. Last time he had been here the animals hadn't been willing to get anywhere close to the mansion. But now, he noticed that a little family of rabbits were munching on weeds by the edge of the house, and some swifts were darting among the pillars holding the front awning up. Something about the house must have changed recently. Perhaps...one of Feliks' house mates was an exorcist? Or something like that...he got the impression that animals lived inside the house as well as outside. Though what they were, he couldn't place.

"Give it another knock Tori. Maybe they didn't hear the first two." the young man beside him insisted. Gilbert was getting impatient but Toris couldn't help that. He still didn't know why the four boys were with him in the first place. But just as he had gotten up his nerve to walk up the hill that was the long driveway for the mansion, Gilbert, Francis, Antonio, and Alfred had called out to him and asked if he was going up to investigate the house and it's new inhabitants. He had grudgingly been forced to tell them that Feliks had invited himself over to the ranch that day, and Toris was supposed to go pick him up from the house. Gilbert had been overjoyed and insisted that they wanted to come with him so they could hopefully finally get inside the supposed _haunted mansion_. They had all seemed really excited at the prospect, except for Alfred who was barely hiding his anxiety and fear behind false enthusiasm. Toris saw Alfred was about to speak when loud hurried footsteps approached from the other side of the door and with a creak it swung open to reveal a rather small young man with tousled blond hair and irritated forest green eyes beneath rather bushy brows.

"Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?" he spoke in an unmistakable British accent and folded his arms over a polo shirt with a logo on it that probably represented a particular soccer...er rather football...team.

Toris quickly recovered from the shock of him and hastily stepped forward.

"I'm supposed to pick up Feliks. He asked to come to my family's horse ranch this afternoon."

One of Arthur's cheeks twitched a bit at that and Toris wondered if the man had been wondering who to blame for the sudden appearance of strangers on his front porch. Then he sighed and stepped back from the doorway changing position so he was now sideways with an arm outstretched towards the inside of the house in a gesture of welcome.

"You'd better come in and wait. There's no knowing how long Feliks is going to take to get ready."

"Much obliged mate." Gilbert grinned and stepped into the house before Toris could protest that he was fine waiting on the front porch. Arthur's cheek twitched again and Toris thought he saw the hand clutching the door clench a bit more forcefully. He hoped it was just because he hadn't really been expecting to be taken up on his offer so easily. Trust Gilbert to not show any tact.

Francis entered the house next with a wide smile and lowered eyes towards the man as he thanked him in almost a purr. This time the man clearly flinched and closed his eyes just briefly as if trying to recover his composure. Then Antonio entered with a cheerful, "Gracias." to the man. And Alfred, not wanting to appear chicken, followed hurriedly on Antonio's heels before Toris at last relented and made his own thanks to the man as he entered the house he had never thought he would.

Gilbert had already made himself comfortable on one of the couches in the living room and had his arms stretched out over the back.

"So this is what the inside of the haunted mansion looks like." he mused as he looked around the room, "Not really what I expected."

The man that had let them in closed the front door a bit too forcefully and came into the living room, clearly trying to keep his annoyance in check.

"Can I get any of you something to drink?" he asked tensely, trying to play the good host.

"Got any beer?" Gilbert laughed.

The man glared at him.

"You're too young to consume alcohol."

"And you're too young to use phrases like that." Gilbert mocked, "Just say drink."

The man was clearly losing it and Toris wondered why Gilbert was pushing him like this. He was about to nervously tell Gilbert to lay off when he noticed that Francis was watching the man carefully while giving the appearance of admiring some art hanging on the wall. Antonio too kept glancing at the man with something that Toris couldn't identify in his eyes while also looking around with eyes that clearly appeared to be searching for something.

Toris glanced back to the man and noticed that he too seemed to be studying the trio in turn. But everyone was snapped from their scrutiny by the sixth person in the room.

"So dude, aren't there eight of you living here?" Alfred asked with a jovial grin trying to hide his continued unease, "Where are the others?"

The man blinked at him as if having forgotten he was there, before responding.

"Yes there are eight of us. Myself, my two siblings, four cousins, and the last who's related to my adopted brother."

"And you're responsible for all of them?" Alfred asked in amazement.

The man nodded.

"Dude that's no small feat. You're like a hero!" Alfred was staring at him with great respect and shining eyes.

The man seemed greatly surprised by this and his composed regal attitude dropped a bit as he laughed.

"I wouldn't go that far. But I do pride myself in being the best caretaker for them that I can. And Yao helps out with that of course."

"Kiku helps more than I do." A new voice responded and two young men stepped up beside their host, "He has been with you longer than I after all."

"I think you give me more credit than I am due brother. I am sure I do not help out as much as you think." the other boy shook his head.

The newcomers were both clearly of Asian descent, one just slightly taller than the other and more lean. His brown hair was caught up in a ponytail and hung a bit down his back and his deep brown eyes gazed out at them from a slightly effeminate face. As he was the one who had spoken in response to the first man the guests could only assume that this was Yao. The other boy, who must be Kiku, had dark black hair and matching dark eyes that looked at them all calculatingly, and a bit nervously. Antonio and Francis recognized him as the one from Senior English.

"Hey looks like some of the family is starting to get curious and come see who's here." Alfred grinned, "So which roles are you to our host here?"

Kiku blinked in confusion but Yao understood what the teen had meant.

"I'm Kiku's half brother. He is Arthur's adopted brother."

"Arthur?" Alfred frowned briefly before he snapped his fingers and pointed at their host, "I get it! You're Arthur."

Arthur blinked at him in confusion and then realized something. In all his attempts to remain calm and composed in the situation, he had completely forgotten to introduce himself. He hastily bowed to them all now.

"Ah yes, forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Arthur Kirkland, the owner of this house and caretaker to its members."

"Oh you're much more than that Arthur." a bright voice laughed and two more boys entered the room. Faces and clothes smeared with paint and standing in a way that their opposite strange single curls seemed to form a heart. One stood with scowl on his face but the other had the brightest smile they had ever seen.

"I mean, you're our cousin and Kiku and Matthew's brother. And you took in Yao as well without any complaint." Feliciano explained. Lovino didn't say anything, just glared into the room, particularly at Antonio who he recognized and who he could see by the grin that had spread across the older boy's face, recognized him in return.

Alfred was getting really excited now.

"So you two are Arthur's cousins then? And you look like twins yourselves."

"Si to both." Feliciano smiled.

Gilbert was grinning broadly and got up to go over and shake the twin boy's hands. They were the ones that he had particularly wanted to meet out of all of them.

"Hey it's great to finally meet you both. My friends here and my younger brother have told me about you guys. I've been wanting to meet you ever since."

Toris had been just keeping out of the way and trying to meld into the wall while he desperately waited for Feliks to finally come downstairs. But a sudden movement from Arthur caught his attention. His hands were moving in a bit of a strange pattern. It was probably nothing, but Toris almost felt like something in the room had changed. Arthur's hands folded once more and Toris saw his eyes close as he gave a sigh. It had all been so fast and it could have just been that Arthur was swatting at a bug that was annoying him, or trying to smooth out his shirt to appear more presentable. But still, Toris thought he sensed something different. In fact, he had been sensing something different ever since he had entered the house. Not malicious or evil per say, but still...different.

"Like Matthew, what are you doing skulking behind the corner? Everyone else seems to be in the living room. Like don't be shy. Come on."

And then Feliks had entered the room, dragging another boy with him. This new boy had rather light blond hair that had a single strange curly cue strand sprouting from the front. His face was pale and his eyes appeared to be a violet-blue hidden behind oval shaped glasses. He stood and looked around the room as if wary of something but then Arthur came over and put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear and he seemed to relax and smiled.

But Alfred's smile had faded at the sight of him. The boy was so pale, so unhumanly pale all over and the rumors about the house were still fresh in his mind.

"Ghost!" the boy shouted and leapt backwards, "This really is a haunted house!"

In the chaos of shouting and movement that followed Toris was surprised to find Feliks suddenly beside him.

"Like, ready to go?" The strange boy asked, "I'm excited to ride a horse again and see all your ponies up close."

_Up close?_

Toris blinked at the hidden implication behind that statement. That the boy had already seen the ranch and ponies from a distance. But Toris was certain that he nor his uncle had seen anyone at the end of the lane to the ranch in the last few weeks. The only thing out of the ordinary had been the wolves. Toris blinked and looked at Feliks, into his sparkling green eyes under blond bangs. Those eyes suddenly reminded him of the ones that had belonged to the wolf that had gotten the closest to the ponies. The Polish wolf.

He shook those crazy thoughts away and turned instead to the current situation.

"Are you sure it's ok for us to leave with the current situation like...well this?"

Feliks grinned and took his arm, steering him towards the door.

"They'll be fine in a little bit. Like, everyone just gets a bit overprotective of Matthew when he gets called a ghost."

"It happens often then?" Toris blinked as Feliks steered him out the front door and shut it behind him with a laugh.

"Like duh. He looks like a ghost don't you think?"

Toris blinked and shrugged. It was true that Matthew was rather more pale than most, even his hair seemed ghostly, but that didn't mean that he himself was a ghost. Some people were just way too superstitious. Believing in fantastic powerful beings like Vampires, Wizards, Werewolves, and not considering the true power held by the creatures and spirits of the forest. His mind faltered even as Feliks dragged him down the long path of the hill, chattering away about random things.

_Werewolves. Was there a possibility that they actually existed?_

He glanced at Feliks and ventured a question.

"Hey Feliks, I hope you don't mind my asking but, do you have Polish blood in you by chance?"

Feliks stopped and blinked at him with an expression on his face that Toris couldn't read.

"Well yeah, but like you don't really know anything about me yet, why is that the first thing you decided to ask."

"Ah well, my ancestors were Lithuanian and I tend to get along with people who are Polish or of Polish decent better than others so...I was just finding out if this friendship was going to last or not."

It was a lame excuse and one that involved a good deal of babble, but he hoped that Feliks would accept it.

The other boy grinned again and he laughed.

"Like, you're really unique Toris. Yeah I think we're gonna be great friends then Lietuva."

Toris was astounded. Feliks had called him by the name of his native country. By its none-English name. And for just a minute when he had, his American drawl had slipped, and his Polish accent had shown through. Feliks was not just descended from the Polish...he himself _was _Polish. And the image of the Polish wolf with the same green eyes flashed into his mind.

_Werewolf _his mind teased.

_I think I need to talk with my uncle. _He reasoned back to it.


	7. Chapter 7

(Ch.7)

Toris was sitting on the pasture fence just watching Feliks when his uncle came up and leaned his hands on the rail.

"Interesting boy" Dimitre chuckled, "Never seen someone his age so excited being around ponies before. And they seem to not know what to make of him either."

Toris nodded as he watched a group of the ponies running alongside Feliks while another group ran ahead of him as if afraid, or teasing, he really couldn't tell at all. Which was very unusual. Toris had always been able to tell what any living creature was feeling by just focusing all his attention on them. It was a family trait and his uncle assured him that once he came of age he would be able to sense it without really trying. He really hoped that was the case because he was horribly confused at the moment. He didn't know what to make of Feliks, and the ponies seemed to agree with him.

"Hey uncle..." he spoke up after biting his lip for a bit, "Do mythological creatures and beings exist?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"You ask that knowing what we are?"

"I know. I've always believed that things like unicorns, gryphans, and dragons...mythological creatures that are fully animal exist. But...what about those that are only half animal like mermaids or centaurs? Or those that are only animal part of the time like selkies and..." he took a breath turning to look straight at Feliks as he let it out softly, "werewolves?"

His uncle followed his gaze and studied the strange boy as well. Taking in his hair, eyes, the way he moved. His senses were stronger than Toris' so he had sensed the aura around the boy that spoke of his connection to the natural world, but there had also been some other strange sensation that came from him, as if some power had been placed on him, blocking his true essence from view. It was strange ancient magic that he couldn't place, but now that his nephew was asking the question...things about Feliks started to remind him of the Polish wolf that had kept coming back and running alongside the ponies' fence with such excitement.

Dimitre took a breath and turned to face Toris, speaking calmly but firmly.

"Yes Toris, all of them exist. As do sorcerers, witches, and vampires. And you already have experience with one of the gods."

Toris nodded, knowing he should look at his uncle's face, but unable to take his eyes away from Feliks as the strange boy continued to run around with the ponies. After a few moments of silence he took a breath and did look at his uncle.

"He has the color of blond hair, green eyes that I swear I've seen before, and he's Polish, I found that out today. Uncle...could he be a werewolf? _That particular_ werewolf?"

"I don't know for sure." the man turned to look at the pasture again, "There's a magic blocking his true essence from my sense. Every living creature has this essence Toris, even normal humans. But his...is hidden, so I can't tell what he is."

"Hey Toris" Feliks suddenly cupped his hands around his mouth and called up to him, "Like get down here! You're being a slug just sitting on the fence! Bor-Ring!"

Toris sighed and looked at his uncle uncertainly but the man chuckled.

"Go on. I can tell one thing about him, and that's if he is a werewolf...he's not a particularly dangerous one."

~*Musouka*~

It took some time to get out of the Hathoway Manor and even more to shake Alfred off of them since the young human was still in shock over the Matthew scare and the resulting accusations and ranting from the rest of the household. But at last the trio was able to make it back to Francis' house, the place most likely to be deserted at the moment. And flop exhausted in their various preferred spots in his room.

"Well you sensed it too right?" Antonio spoke up first, looking at Gil and Francis. They both nodded.

"The instant we entered that house I knew something was off about it." Gilbert nodded, "It's why I kept trying to get Kirkland to lose his cool. I thought maybe he might give something away."

"And you knew Matthew was there around the corner the entire time didn't you?" Francis asked the new vampire.

"Ja" Gilbert grinned, "Guess he can't hide from me."

"There were multiple auras surrounding that house." Antonio said quietly.

Francis nodded, "Around Arthur, Kiku, and Lovino as well."

"And Arthur was lying to us. That explanation he gave about his family was clearly rehearsed and he had said it several times. Apart from the twins, none of those boys were related to each other." Antonio continued.

Francis and Gilbert looked at their friend in surprise.

"Toni you can sense when someone's lying?"

"It's a pureblood trait." the young vampire shrugged.

"So can you also see the truth through the lies?" Gilbert asked excitedly, "Do you know what they're hiding and why?"

"No, but I could tell their nationality and rank in the house just by looking at them and listening to them, at least most of them."

"What do you mean _most _of them?" Francis asked curiously.

"Well Tino wasn't there for one thing. And Matthew is completely blank, I can't tell anything about him. It's rather disconcerting."

Francis nodded but Gilbert chuckled, "Don't sweat it Toni, just tell me what to look for and I can find out whatever you need to know about him since I'm apparently the only one that can get by the invisibility voodoo that surrounds him."

Antonio smiled a bit and nodded. "I'll tell you later but let me tell you what I do know about the boys right now, because I think you'll find it very insightful."

Francis and Gilbert nodded for him to continue.

"From meeting with them I already knew that Feliciano and Lovino were Italian and Feliks is Polish. Now I know that Arthur is British, specifically English..."

"We could tell that just by his manner and speech. The others seem to be completely americanized so why isn't he?" Gilbert chuckled but Francis shushed him and motioned for Antonio to continue.

"Kiku is Japanese, Yao is Chinese, and as I said, I don't know about Matthew and Tino. And then in terms of rank, Arthur's the head of the household, that's why he's the one that let us in. I don't think any of the others would have, even if they had been closest to the door. Kiku is his second in command in both rank and respect. Yao comes after him but only because of age. Felciano is higher than Lovino which is strange given that he's the younger twin, and Feliks is at the very bottom. As I said before, I don't know about Tino or Matthew but I tried to place them based on how Arthur talked about them. I think Matthew comes after Yao and Tino is actually second to last."

"Sounds like a pack dynamic to me." Gilbert grinned.

"And the nationalities account for six out of the eight wolves. All that's missing is the Finnish and Canadian Timber Wolf." Francis added.

The other two turned to Antonio who was staring out the window with his hands clasped behind his back.

"What do you think Toni, mon ami? Should we consider our suspicions confirmed?" Francis asked.

Antonio didn't turn around but he sighed and shook his head.

"I wouldn't consider them completely confirmed. However, given what we know, I would say it is safer to assume they are and work with that rather than continue under the belief that they are not."

"What do you mean by that?" Gilbert asked curiously, his grin slipping slightly.

Antonio turned back to them.

"Regardless of if they are werewolves or not, Arthur is not human and he knows what we are, and I suspect that Matthew does as well."

"How do you know this?" Francis gasped.

"Because I caught Arthur's hands moving in a specific pattern when the rest of the boys entered the room. To the unknowing eye it would appear to just be a strange nervous gesture that he might have out of habit. But I've seen it done before and I know what it was. Werewolf or not, Arthur was using magic, and the particular spell he cast was one to protect the others from vampires."

~*Musouka*~

As soon as Feliks arrived home, Arthur had to step in and stop the resulting fight that would have resulting from Lovino seeing him. True to his suspicions, the irritable Italian had been furious over his broken mug and demanded revenge for it on both Arthur, for being careless, and Feliks for causing the door to even have to be knocked on in the first place.

"We don't have time for this right now." Arthur growled at them, "I've been waiting for Feliks to come home so I could call a pack meeting." he raised his voice so it would echo through the whole house, "Living room! Now!" he let out a summoning howl just to be sure.

Feliks rolled his eyes at Lovino as he walked past both boys and Arthur had to bark warningly at his most troublesome omega to stop him from jumping his packmate. Clattering came from the kitchen and Feliciano raced out with apron still on as Matthew followed after him, hands covered in flour. The other four came down the stairs, Yao as lithely as ever, and Tino practically tripping over Kiku. But it had still taken no more than two minutes for the entire pack to be gathered in the living room, sitting or standing, all eyes on Arthur.

The alpha took a breath and ran a hand through his hair before he began what was probably going to be a very difficult discussion.

"We have a problem."

Feliciano and Feliks groaned. It always meant trouble when Arthur began a meeting like this. Usually, it meant another move. Another change for all of them. Packing up and finding another town. Leaving friends, crushes, and even sometimes girlfriends or boyfriends behind and promising not to think about them again.

"Just listen would you?!" Arthur glared at them, "This is a serious problem. I need to know what you all have found out about the members of the town. I should have asked long before now, but something has come up that has me seriously concerned about who else might be living near us."

The others members frowned and blinked at him in surprise. They normally always inspected the people in the particular town they had moved to and reported back their findings to Arthur. Paying particular attention to unusual activity or auras and figuring out what being like them they belonged to. He also had trained them all to recognize the signs of hunters. Supernatural hunters especially. Knowing who was on their side or against them was incredibly important for the pack's survival.

Arthur turned to Kiku.

"You report first, beta."

Kiku had been standing the entire time and came forward to bow his head respectfully to Arthur before stating what he knew.

"Someone at the high school is a dragon. Of the Chinese line I believe. I haven't yet found out who but I can tell that they are young, one of the students. That's all I've been able to specifically sense."

Arthur nodded in gratitude and bowed to his beta in turn.

"Arigato, Kiku. Please try to find who the dragon is and how much family they have in the town. If they discover our existence, we may need Yao to smooth things over." he nodded now at the Chinese wolf who stood and faced Arthur, placing his fist in his open palm before his face and bowing so his thumbs touched his forehead with a whispered "aru" before he turned back to the rest of the pack to tell what he knew.

"There is a god in this town."

The group gasped in shock and Feliciano whimpered slightly. He had had a very bad experience with a cruel god before.

"And you didn't think to tell us until now?!" Arthur snapped. Yao might be considerably older than him, older than any of them in fact, but that never stopped Arthur from treating him like an incompetent pup if something like this occurred. And he was the only one that could make Yao actually feel like one too.

The omega lowered his head in shame.

"I wanted to try and find more out about him first. I didn't want to create panic if there was no call for any."

Arthur sighed and spoke more calmly now.

"And what have you found out?"

Yao looked back up straight into his eyes.

"I don't think he will be a danger to us. But he is one of the Slavics. Perun, god of thunder and lightning, war and weapons, as well as tin, oaks, and Thursday."

"And yet you say he's like not dangerous." Feliks snorted.

"Thursday?" Tino blinked.

"Most gods get one or two odd things they're in charge of." Feliciano shrugged.

"Regardless, we need to be careful of him." Arthur sighed, "What's the name he's using, Yao?"

"Ivan Braginski."

"Oh, like that's the guy I stole the seat from in science." Feliks said without concern, "He thinks he's all that. He's like, a typical bully."

The room fell completely silent, all eyes on Feliks, all with disbelief. Then Lovino leapt off the couch and pointed a furiously trembling finger at him.

"Get out!" His voice was trembling with fear and rage, "Get out of this house! Get out of my life! I am not going to sit by and let your idiocy get my brother killed! Get out! Get OUT!"

"Lovi!" Feliciano had jumped up as well to try and calm his brother down, "It's ok Lovi, really. He didn't know. And I'm sure nothing is going to happen. Really, everything's fine."

"SIT DOWN, LOVINO!" Arthur yelled at the trembling omega with all the authority his rank as alpha held.

Lovino flinched as if he had physically been slapped and sank back to the couch putting his head in his hands and muttering. Feliciano settled down beside him, also trembling from the outburst even though the anger had not been directed at himself.

"Only I have the authority to banish someone from the pack, do you hear me?" Arthur barked at Lovino who flinched again.

"Yes sir" he hissed out between his teeth, not looking up.

"As for you" Arthur turned to Feliks, "If we have to leave again it will be your fault, and I am seriously starting to consider giving in and banishing you for real. Do you understand me?"

Feliks sighed.

"Yes sir, though I really had no idea who he was so it wasn't at all my fault."

"Not your..." Lovino gasped in fury but Arthur glared at him to instantly silence him again, before he sighed and turned to Matthew.

"Do you think this Ivan knows what Feliks is?"

"I really don't know." Matthew sighed, "We've never encountered another god before now, not while I was part of the pack that is, so I don't know if my abilities shield us from their eyes as well."

Arthur sighed again and nodded.

"I figured. Tino" He turned to the Finnish wolf sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up, "I have a job for you."

"You want me to tail him and find out don't you?" Tino spoke quietly.

"We need to know if he knows about Feliks and is a danger to him. And by association, to the pack." Arthur nodded, "If he has an intent to harm or kill, I need to know as soon as possible."

"If he wants to kill the idiot I say good riddance." Lovino huffed.

"Lovino" Arthur growled at him warningly again before looking hard at Tino.

"I know you don't usually like getting close to potential threats..."

"He unsettles me." The young wolf lowered his eyes and shivered, "Now I know why. A god." he shuddered. Like Feliciano, he had had a bad experience with a god in his past as well.

"I'm sorry, but you're the only one who can know for sure." Arthur sighed, "What if...I promise to get you a puppy again?"

He knew that none of his pack could refuse a direct order from him, not without consequences, but there were certain members that he tried to avoid doing this with. The gentle coaxing approach worked better he had found. Tino was one of them. It had resulted with the pack having many different animals, particularly dogs, over the years.

Tino looked a bit more cheerful as he raised his eyes to meet Arthur's again.

"All right then, but all from a distance. I won't get any closer than I have to."

"Fair enough." Arthur sighed.

"That's settled then, and your report is next, Matthew."

The Canadian Timber Wolf addressed the rest of the pack now. His soft voice barely carrying to the end of the room where Feliks sat.

"There are two selkies and a mermaid at the high school as well."

The others all inhaled in surprise.

"That's so unusual." Tino exclaimed, "They rarely stray far from the ocean, even in human form."

"Well the great lakes are nearby." Feliciano pointed out, "And there's a couple of smaller lakes closer yet. Maybe that's good enough for them."

"Either way, if it comes down to it we will have allies in the selkies. As for the mermaid...she or he could go either way. Only the teeth will tell. But that would require them to take their true form..." Arthur frowned and bit his thumb, something he did when he was seriously thinking.

"You're like jumping ahead, Arthur." Feliks waved a hand, "Matthew?"

Matthew understand perfectly what he was asking and shook his head,

"I don't know who any of them are yet. They must not have magic shielding them."

"Thought so." Feliks smiled in satisfaction and pulled his legs up onto the chair in the way he liked to feel comfortable.

Arthur sighed.

"All right, so just like the dragon we need to figure out who they are first before we can proceed to figuring the mermaid out."

"I can do that." Feliciano grinned.

Lovino sighed.

"You are not going to go around to every single person in the school and ask them if they are a dragon, selkie, or mermaid. You will get labeled as a freak."

"I'm in agreement with Lovino in this case." Arthur nodded, "You can't do that Feliciano. But I will take your report now."

"Si" Feliciano smiled, "A Leshy is in our school."

"A what now?" Feliks frowned.

"A Leshy" Feliciano repeated, "A forest spirit, protector of wildlife, some can even shapeshift."

"In other-words, another ally." Arthur smiled, "Good work Feliciano, forest spirits are usually difficult to detect."

Feliciano beamed at the praise and turned to Lovino who was next.

"Three blood suckers" the other Italian growled, "But you knew that already, Arthur."

Arthur sighed.

"It was the reason I called this meeting in the first place. But I'll get back to them later. Tino?"

The young man shook his head.

"I haven't discovered anyone specific yet. The whole school seems to be full of people with strange auras and different intentions. Even the ones I know are human are not quite like most humans. Not mundane."

Arthur nodded.

"Keep paying attention to the atmosphere around the students in general. You should be able to sense uncertainty, fear, or mistrust towards us."

Tino nodded.

"Feliks" Arthur sighed turning to the omega at the bottom of the pack, "Should I even bother asking?"

"Like nope." Feliks yawned and put his chin in his hands with a grin.

Arthur sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"All right then, back to the vampires. For those that didn't realize it, they were here in the house today."

Kiku, Tino, and Feliciano gasped. Feliks also raised his eyes in surprise.

"Seriously? Was I like with a nietoperz today?"

"No Feliks," Arthur shook his head, "That boy was not one of them. Neither was the tall one with glasses. Both felt human to me. It was the other three."

"The ones that have classes with us." Lovino growled, "I can't believe I didn't realize it until they stepped into the house."

"One is a pureblood." Arthur sighed, "Like Matthew does for us, he was blocking their auras from being detected. Until they stepped through my spells which unraveled them."

"And what was the outcome, Arthur san?" Kiku asked, speaking what they were all thinking, all but one.

Arthur sighed and slumped into the chair behind him.

"I think they suspect us. I don't believe they know exactly what we are, but the pureblood at least knows that we are lying about our family dynamics. Most of you have never encountered a pureblood before. They are very rare, they know when they are being lied to. Fortunately, I do not believe they can see the truth."

"Still, he suspects." Lovino growled, "That's dangerous enough!"

Arthur nodded.

"I agree. However, I'm not sure if they're the type to attack us for no reason. I think they were mainly just curious. The only way for us to know for sure, is to get closer to them."

"I can do that." Feliciano grinned.

"Hell no!" Both Arthur and Lovino shouted at him at the same time and then glared at each other. Suddenly Arthur's eyebrows rose and he started to smile.

"Lovino..."

"Hell no, don't even go there!" the Italian omega growled.

"You are the only one that has not offered to help a single bit." Arthur snapped, "I just need you to do this one job."

"What about him?" Lovino pointed at Feliks angrily, "He hasn't been any help at all."

"That's cause he's useless." Arthur sighed, "This is important."

"Then get Kiku to do it." Lovino growled, "He's your beta."

"Exactly why I can't risk him." Arthur shook his head.

"So instead your risking me as bait? Oh thanks a lot, bastard." Lovino growled and folded his arms.

"I'm giving you an important mission because they seemed interested in you. You and Feliciano might be the only ones of us they would let get remotely close to them to find out what we need to know. And both you and I agree that we can't let Feli do it so..."

Lovino looked into his eyes for several long minutes before he sighed.

"Great. Just great. Into the valley of death walks Lovino."

(AN: Anybody got an idea which of the mentioned beings Toris is? Also, the full extent of each of the wolves powers will be revealed later, and some will probably shock you! ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter!)


End file.
